Life is like a voyage
Tribute speech for Life-boats
by parish priest Eva Jerg, given at their visit to Fredericia

Life is like a voyage
Tribute speech for Life-boats
by parish priest Eva Jerg, given at their visit to Fredericia
A tribute to an extraordinary artwork that sets thoughts in motion.
Life is like a voyage.
The image is old and forever young.
Life is like a voyage
with calm waves,
with high seas,
with foam-crested waves,
with a still horizon.
Every human life is its own voyage, its own story.
Three women are moored here.
Or perhaps it is the same woman in three stages of her life’s voyage?
Or perhaps it is all women of all times?
The women – the ships – are laden
with longing, with life, with memories.
Now they lie here, securely tied:
Both longings, life, and memories.
But the truth is that neither longing, nor memories, nor life itself can be moored.
Today we remain standing here with the women.
But in our thoughts, we step on board.
The boats invite us to do so.
Step aboard “Life.”
She is the one in the middle.
Let your thoughts sail to those who gave you life.
Those who voyaged before you.
Let your thoughts flow to those to whom you have given life.
And life you gave each time you lit a sparkle in another’s eyes.
Each time you gave another person hope.
Life-Boats. Boats that give life.
Life-Boats. Lifeboats. Remind us also of those who saved lives,
remind us of those who lost their lives,
of those no boat could save.
Then step aboard “Longing.”
I know well that she lies in front.
But longing does not always come before life.
Longing rhymes with out-longing.
Longing rhymes with foreign harbors.
Longing rhymes with restlessness.
And with dreams.
And longing rhymes with drive –
with casting off the moorings and simply letting oneself drift.
Longing tastes of saltwater and champagne and flavors not yet known.
Life-Boats.
Boats that make you long.
And then step aboard “Memories.”
Memories from the women whose strong stories sail with them.
Step aboard with your own memories.
Memories of women.
Memories of men you met on your life’s voyage.
Memories are one of the strongest ballasts we can carry with us on life’s voyage.
Much else can be thrown overboard along the way,
but memories always sail with us.
Both when we sail, and when we run aground.
Life is like a voyage.
The ship is laden with life – with longing – with memories.
What is your ship laden with?
Life-Boats – they have sailed for a year now.
Every artwork has its own time.
The time from the very first thought.